740.00115 Pacific War/844
The Department of State to the Spanish Embassy
The Department of State refers to memorandum no. 333 of August 3, 1942 from the Spanish Embassy in charge of Japanese interests in the continental United States transmitting complaints received from the Imperial Japanese Government through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at Madrid regarding the Japanese nationals removed from certain areas in the Pacific coast region of the United States.
It is noted that the Japanese Government has drawn the conclusion from reports received by it that Japanese nationals may have been removed from their customary places of residence in the United States without adequate guarantees of their physical welfare and property and under conditions which constitute violations of the undertaking of the United States Government not to make use of the provisions of Article 27 of the Geneva Prisoners of War Convention to compel Japanese civilians detained or interned by it to labor against their will.
The Japanese nationals removed from areas in the Pacific coast region of the United States were removed because of military necessities and for their own protection. They were first transferred to temporary assembly centers, some of which have been visited by [Page 1049] representatives of the Spanish Embassy. From the assembly centers the Japanese will be removed to relocation centers which are not internment camps but are on the contrary areas where communities are being established in which the Japanese may organize their social and economic life in safety and security under the protection of the central authorities of the United States.
As will be realized, had these persons simply been ordered to remove from the restricted areas in which they were resident and been left to their own devices in the finding of places in other regions of the United States in which to settle, they might have encountered great difficulties and suffered hardships in the course of their endeavors to establish themselves on their own resources. As it is, they have been provided under the protection and at the expense of the American Federal Authorities with living quarters where family groups may remain together in communities organized especially for them. They are provided with living quarters and other necessities of life, including liberal rations of food, whether they volunteer for work or not. Furthermore, special assistance in the form of public health programs, medical and hospital facilities, and special food and treatment for the aged and infirm, as well as for women and children, have been provided.
Scrupulous care has been exercised to avoid a violation of this Government’s undertaking not to apply Article 27 of the Geneva Prisoners of War Convention to compel Japanese nationals to work against their wills. Only those who volunteer to work will be given employment. An endeavor is made to assign these persons to the type of work to which they are best fitted by education and previous training and for which they receive compensation.
Furthermore, measures have been taken to protect the property of the Japanese removed from their previous places of residence. This property has not been confiscated.
The Department of State has forwarded the Spanish Embassy’s memorandum under reference to other interested agencies of the United States Government with a request for additional information regarding the removal of Japanese nationals from areas in the Pacific coast region, particularly with reference to the request in the penultimate paragraph of the Spanish Embassy’s memorandum regarding the number of Japanese transferred and the respective places to which they were removed. When replies shall have been received from these agencies a further communication will be addressed to the Spanish Embassy.